Full Form of CPR
Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation
CPR Full Form is Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. It refers to the life-saving technique applied during emergencies. Most often, this is applied to people who are collapsing due to a near-drowning or heart attack incidents. The primary aim of the procedure is to manually preserve an intact brain function until procedures are administered to restore breathing and blood circulation.
This is done whenever there is a cardiac arrest and the heart stops beating. This has to be performed within few minutes. Though even a common man can perform CPR during emergency situations to save the life, a formal learning of CPR is highly essential. There are certain dos and don’ts involved in the process.
CPR Full Form – Additional Information
Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation is a medical procedure that is conducted in emergency situations. The procedure is a combination of chest compression, which generally occurs along with artificial ventilation for the purpose of preserving brain function until additional steps are taken for the restoration of circulation of blood and breathing in the person who is under cardiac arrest.
The purpose of CPR is to cause restoration of circulation of oxygenated blood partially to the heart and brain. The procedure delays tissue death and minimalisation of damage to the brain. The procedure continues until the patient has Return of Spontaneous Circulation (abbreviated as ROSC) or is dead.
The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation lays down certain guidelines on Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, which will hereinafter be referred to as CPR throughout the article. It states that for adults chest compressions lie in the range of 5cm and 6 cm and usually at the rate of 100-120 per minute. The person engaged in giving CPR may opt for giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or mechanical ventilation. The guidelines recommend that the rescuer should perform CPR instead of providing artificial ventilation. There are many facets in a CPR procedure which everyone must know about. So, here are five things about CPR:
Medical uses of CPR
CPR is a procedure that is conducted upon that person who has become unresponsive, and signals no breathing or shows occasional agonal gasps, which generally happens when there is cardiac arrest. In a case where the patient has a pulse but has undergone into respiratory arrest, then artificial ventilation is a better option. In cases where trauma is the causal factor of cardiac arrest, CPR is generally conducted though it is futile.
The effectiveness of CPR depends upon many factors such as severity, etc. Many research studies have shown that the chances of survival increase when defibrillation follows CPR immediately within three-five minutes of cardiac arrest. The effectiveness of CPR is found to be less effective upon children because in children cardiac arrest usually has a non-cardiac arrest.
Complications
CPR, as must have already become clear, is the last resort that the rescuer has to save the patient. The nature of the performance of CPR is afflicted with quite a few complications. Such complications include rib fractures, bleeding, sterna fractures, hemopericardium, injury to abdominal viscus, fat emboli, lung contusions, etc. However, among all these injuries, the most common is rib fracture, followed by sterna fractures.
The nature of such injuries will depend upon several factors such as age and gender. For instance, women are more prone to sterna fractures than men and risk increases with age. Infants and children generally have less risk of rib fractures in CPR. Such complications associated with CPR have been extensively discussed in the medical field and a lot of studies is being conducted to come up with methods that reduce such complications.
Additional devices to CPR
There are many adjunctive devices that are available however, none has been as effective as defibrillation, which is regarded as the best available method for giving CPR out-of-hospital cases of cardiac arrest. All these devices have been categorized into three groups, namely: timing devices, devices that help in achieving correct technique in areas such as speed compressions and depth, and devices that take absolute control over the process.
The first device, which is a timing device, features a metronome. The second device is manual assist device, which has not been found effective and is usually not recommended. The last device talk about automatic devices that absolutely take control over the process of chest compressions in the CPR process and such devices allow the rescuer to undertake other interventions.
Stage CPR
As mentioned already, CPR is afflicted with several complications, it should not be undertaken casually. Chest compressions can cause blunt trauma, which includes fracture or bruising of the ribs or sternum. It is advised that CPR should not be conducted on a healthy person because it will increase the risk of blunt trauma. The CPR procedure shown in movies is generally incorrect and therefore, should not be recklessly imitated. There are hoaxes relating to CPR as well. One such hoax is the self CPR, which is also known as cough CPR. Self CPR is an impossible treatment and therefore, such hoaxes be avoided.
Performance of CPR on animals
It is possible to conduct CPR on animals such as dogs and cats. The principles underlying the procedure are almost same to that of the human beings. The only difference is that in case of animals, the process of resuscitation is performed via nose of the animal. CPR is recommended only on unconscious animals.